Finally the Island is open!
If this was last year. I would have been over to Toronto island a few times by now. Unfortunately this year the Spring melt was met with heavy rains. The islands were completely flooded. It’s taken a lot of money, and a lot of work to make the Islands safe for visitors. Well enough work has been done to finally allow people to visit the Islands. So my wife and I packed up our gear, and caught the first Ferry over to Wards island.
I was excited for a number of reasons. First of all if you follow my blog, you will already know that it’s one of my favourite places to fish in Toronto. Secondly with the Islands having been closed to visitors. There’s been little to no fishing pressure at some of our favourite spots. I had a feeling that today was going to be a great day. I was also very interested in seeing the condition of the Islands after all the flooding. The evidence of the flooding was everywhere. Some of the Holes on the Disc Golf course are still underwater. There are sand bags lining the roadways. Large areas are still closed off to visitors. Unfortunately some of my favourite spots were inaccessible. That really wasn’t a problem though because new locations have been created by the flooding. I actually saw a small Bass in a shallow pool right beside the roadway. Our first stop was at a spot we have fished many times before.
St. Andrew’s by the Lake Church on Centre island has a small dock behind it. There’s enough room for a few people to fish. My wife and I have always had it all to ourselves whenever we go. I’ve only seen one other person fish there. It’s easy to cast Spinners or Spoons along the shoreline from the dock. You can also have some success jigging off the end of the dock. I began my day with a #4 Mepps Black Fury from their Pike kit.
We spent about 90 minutes working the shoreline. I tried a number of different presentations. Unfortunately though we came up empty. We continued west along the path to the next spot.
Before you reach the Bridge by the large fountain there’s a mooring point. You can work the shoreline to the east, cast across the channel, or jig along the mooring side. I switched to a Shallow Rattler to see if that would get them biting.
After casting for a little under an hour I got my first strike, and it was a monster hit! I had worked the Rattler under some overhanging trees along the shoreline when the strike happened. It folded my rod over instantly. As soon as the moment came it was gone just as fast. Whatever it was it shook loose after about 10 seconds of fighting. I didn’t even get to catch a glimpse. It was enough to raise our spirits, and keep us motivated though. Took about another 30 minutes before I got my next strike. This one wasn’t getting away.
This was not the Bass I was looking for. Still I’ll take something over nothing any day. Considering that my wife and I had three strikes over the last 30 minutes. We knew that it was feeding time. If we we’re hoping to land a trophy fish for the day. It was going to happen now, or not at all.
I switched back to a Spoon, and passed the Rattler off to my wife. We took turns working different portions of the channel. The seconds turned into minutes, and before we knew it. Another hour had passed, and the sun was high in the sky. The early morning mosquito layers came off. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, and tan as well right. The reality that out Fishing window was closing quickly set in. Both of us were getting ready to call it a day when finally the beast we we’re hoping to find appeared. My wife made about a 30 foot cast along the shoreline. While reeling in she got caught up in some underwater vegetation. She was able to jerk the lure free. She continued reeling it in to clear the hooks, and make another cast. Just before the lure broke the surface the Largemouth appeared. Easily an eight pounder, he followed that lure within an arms length from the dock. That’s as close as we’d get to catching him though. His nose brushed up against the trailing vegetation, and he turned away, and disappeared. We continued to cast for a while longer, but to no avail.
Our first trip over to the Toronto islands wasn’t a success, but it wasn’t a complete failure either. Most importantly we got a glimpse of what’s waiting for us the next time we go. Every fish you catch makes for a great memory, but it’s the next fish you catch that gets your heart racing. I can’t wait to go back, and hopefully next time is my time.
